IT professionals with management skills will be the most sought after in the future according to a recent debate about IT Skills for Tomorrow, by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. Andrew Reid, Director, Microsoft Consulting Services said that there will be a need for deep technical skills in the future. But the people who will be valued most highly, will be those who combine their technical skills with an equally deep understanding of the business.

“This will enable them to architect the technology in such a way that it enables the organisation to differentiates itself from its competitors,” he said. Paul Jagger, from IBM said that it takes time to develop the right skills. Today, many organisations are looking for a 40 year old consultant who is 20 years earlier in their career, he said.

“There are a very select few who have that sort of ability and those who do, they will go on to be the next Mark Zuckerburg. We need to develop people, not just procure them.” Rubi Kaur, HMRC said that in thefuture, companies will need an IT function; however it will be more about strategic IT direction, concentrating on governance and management.

Jagger added: “It won’t be a discreet function in the future. It will be more strategic and will need to be linked implicitly to the organisation’s goals and deliver upon the objectives of the organisation.”

When the new NBA Jam was announced for the Wii, Electronic Arts was very cagey about confirming whether or not the Wii version would offer online multiplayer support. We can now confirm that despite the fact that the new NBA Jam release for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will have online multiplayer support, the Wii version of the title will not.

The Wii version is considered by EA to be the full version of the new NBA Jam release because of its additional Remix Tour mode that adds both new challenges and boss battles that will be unique to the Wii version of the game.

Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners will not get the Remix Tour mode. In addition, as we recently reported, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners will only be able to get the new NBA Jam limited edition by buying NBA Elite 11, which will include a code that will allow owners to download the game for free as a bonus for buying NBA Elite 11. Still, 360 and PS3 owners will be able to play multiplayer online, which makes the entire thing a trade-off. The Wii player will still be able to compete in local multiplayer mode, however.

No reason has been given for the decision by EA. Other EA titles for the Wii platform have included online multiplayer, so it makes it all the more puzzling as to why this route was chosen. Still, even with no online multiplayer, we agree with analysts who are expecting the Wii version to yield some healthy sales for Electronic Arts.